Email has become an integral part of an individual's life both at business and at home. Through the use of email, individuals keep in touch, transact business and set up meetings. In some personal information manager (PIM) programs, a user can view their calendar and schedule meetings. A user selects a time on their calendar, creates an appointment, and selects people to invite to the meeting. Some programs even help to determine when people are available for the meeting that is being arranged. Once the details of the meeting are set, the user may email a meeting notice to each of the requested participants. Each of the requested participants receive an email in their inbox. When the user opens the meeting request, their PIM may determine if the requested meeting conflicts with an existing item in their calendar, and they can either accept, tentatively accept, or decline the meeting. The organizer can track who has accepted, declined, or counter-proposed times, simply by opening the meeting within the PIM program.
Sharing other resources with a user, however, is not as simple. While it is possible to share files, folders, and calendars with other users, initiating and setting up this sharing can be cumbersome and difficult.